Environmental police used three gunshots to kill a 18-month-old bear found in a tree in West Newton Sunday morning -- the first time such lethal action was taken in a non-rural setting in Massachusetts in five years, according to authorities.

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Lt. Col. Chris Baker of the environmental police said state environmental authorities have been fielding complaints about the manner in which the incident was handled, but he defended officers’ use of lethal force.

“We use euthanization as a last resort when it’s in the interest of public safety,” said Baker. “Unfortunately, here that decision had to be made and we take that decision very seriously.”

Three officers responded to a call from Newton police about a black bear in a tree at approximately 6:15 a.m. on Sunday. The bear was treed near the intersection of Washington and Eddy streets.

The officers first tried to immobilize the bear with tranquilizer darts in order to relocate it, Baker said, because the animal had climbed a tree adjacent to the Massachusetts Turnpike, MBTA commuter rail lines and densely populated neighborhoods.

Newton Police and Fire departments responded to the scene, and state police were also on hand as the turnpike was shut down briefly during the two-hour ordeal.

One of the officers climbed a fire department ladder equipped with a tranquilizer gun and darts, but the firearm misfired and the dart wouldn’t discharge, according to Baker.

Bears are capable of running up to 35 mph, and the proximity of the 130-pound animal to neighborhoods and traffic led the officers to conclude lethal force was necessary.

“If he had come down, he could have been down on the Mass Pike or on the rail lines or into the neighborhoods within seconds,” said Baker. “There could have been a human interaction that we try and avoid.”

Along with Newton officials, environmental police worked to ensure the area was safe so a clear shot could be taken. The bear was shot twice while in the tree and once more while on the ground to ensure it was dead. All three shots made contact with the bear.

Baker said officers sought to act in the “most quick and humane way. We don’t want the animal to suffer needlessly.”

The last time environmental police killed a bear was in April 2012 in Hancock, a rural town on the New York border. A vehicle had struck the bear and it was fatally wounded.

The last time a bear was euthanized in a non-rural setting was June 2008, when a bear was seen weaving in and out of traffic on Route 12 in Auburn, Baker said.

The bear population is increasing and expanding further east, according to Baker. He said environmental police respond to as many as 400 calls about bears each year.

Typically environmental police use tranquilizers and place a net on the ground to break the fall of the bear. From there, it’s covered with bags of ice to regulate its body temperature and transported to a rural location where it’s given a reverse drug and released into the wild.

Officers had a net and ice on hand on Sunday morning before they opted against transporting the animal.

There were 15 environmental police officers on duty across the state at the time of the incident. Baker said there were efforts to contact another officer with a tranquilizer, but none were available.

“[The tranquilizer team] is a small unit and there are limited resources,” said Baker. “We have to do the best job with what we have.”

While the officers were responding in Newton, Baker said, 135 calls for service were put on hold. Environmental police enforce state regulations for activities such as boating, hunting, fishing and use of ATVs.

At its peak, the department had 130 officers statewide and an annual budget of $12 million. Since 2005, those levels have steadily decreased and today there are a total of 85 officers operating under an $8.5 million budget.

Baker wouldn’t speculate on how those budget cuts could have impacted the response in Newton.

“It’s hard to say that things would have been done differently,” said Baker. “If we had another officer on with tranquilizer equipment, then definitely things might have been different, but it’s hard to say that officer would have been there.”